


Find Him

by Cames4eva



Category: Red Queen Series - Victoria Aveyard
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Character Death, Ghosts, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-03-01 05:05:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18793576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cames4eva/pseuds/Cames4eva
Summary: Thomas's family moves into a nice big house, for very, very cheap.Logically you'd expect the worse.Instead, you get a cute little ghost who just wants to move on.





	Find Him

I pull a box from the trunk, moving into this vast estate was probably the craziest thing my parents have ever done, we aren’t silvers, we don’t have enough money nor class to live in a gigantic estate.

“It was barely more than our old home!” My Mother had exclaimed as if that wasn’t sus as hell.

My siblings were happy though, more space to run around and play I guess. 

“You got it?” Asks Robin, my 10-year-old sister with her bouncy black ringlets held back by the scarlet red bow.

“Yeah, Birdy, I got it.” I tease, that’s a nickname that’s never going away, she huffs at the nickname and storms away.

I walk up the path to place the heavy box in my new room. Mom promised I’d get the biggest room (other than their bedroom, of course) in the house since I’m the oldest of 5 children. I’ve shared a room my entire life, I don’t think I could be more excited about anything.

I’m still wondering why this MASSIVE estate is equal to a 3 bedroom house made out of material less stable than wet cardboard, but I guess I can’t really complain.

I turn off the path, driven by the force of someone watching me. I see a mess of black mixed in with red and white roses. I rush forward to see what it is in our new garden.

A cat. It was a black cat curled into a tight ball in the sunlight to capture the warmth.

“Cute,” I whisper.

___

“Uh, Ma?!” I shout loudly to her from the living room. Or, at least I think it’s a living room, it could be something fancy like a… Foyer. What’s a foyer?

“Yes, Honey Bear?” She wafts into the room. Yes, wafts, she’s a fucking angel okay?

“Why is there a picture of some sad looking peeps in our…” I hesitate still unsure what this room even is, “...room.”

“Oh!” She exclaims, “The original owners left all their stuff here, we can keep what we like and throw out what we don’t.” I nod slowly.

“Why’d they leave ‘gain, Ma?”

She laughs a little nervous for a second, “One of their family members died, the memories were too painful, so they left.”

 

“Is it one of the ones in this picture?” I question she scrunches up her face a bit.

“Well, I don’t really know.” She explains, “But it’s too bad they left all these things here.”

“Yeah, it’s unfortunate they chose to forget rather than cherish the memories.”

“Maybe we can keep some of their stuff, in case they want any of it back!” She suggests with excited happiness to her. I watch the idea light upon her face.

“Yeah, they’d want them eventually.”

___

I climb the marble staircase up to my room, finally the last box. Not that I actually had many boxes, but still, it’s a long walk.

“Hey, Tommy!” yelled little Ade who was sitting on my new bed and waving his hands wildly. I laugh a bit seeing him waving a golden picture frame like it wasn’t worth everything we had owned before the move, “I found a pickure!”

“Oh, did you?” I question in that one tone everyone uses for small toddlers.

“Yuh-huh!” He shouts running over to meet me. His foot, however, catches on the red rug effectively tripping him and letting the picture tumble from his grip, it shatters against the wooden flooring. I run over, worried that Ade hurt himself. 

Ade begins to wail loudly, “Awe,” I pick him up, cradling him in my arms, “Did Adey get a boo-boo?” He sobs into my chest. I exit my room and lock the door to keep any of the little rascals from playing with the broken glass. I shush him and lay him on the floor of his new room, no way I hell I'd let him touch the dusty ass bed. 

I ruffle his hair and place a kiss on his forehead before putting hulky, his blanket with the hulk on it, on him to soothe him as I work on his room.

I pull the bedding off and into an empty basket. Ma must have brought it up. I rush around the room making it clean and putting away Ade's stuff. Books are placed on shelves and toys are neatly arranged on the princess themed bed. 

I finally pick a sleeping Adey back up and put him on his bed. He looks so small in such a large bed. I shut the curtains and switch on his flashlight that we've used as a night light for the past few years. I whisper goodnight to the sleeping boy and close the door to his room.

Stella laid on the ground giggling outside my bedroom door, she darts her hand under the door and squeaks pulling it back, she repeated the process a few seconds later.

“Stella?” I question, “What are you doing?”

She looks at me with those big eyes of her and with no sense of worry or anxiety says “He’s funny!”

My room is locked, all the windows are locked, no one was in there when Ade and I were in there and unless it magically unlocked itself no one should be in there.

Oh hell no, I’m not letting some fucking ghost play with my sister.

I pull Stella away from the door by her ankles, she screeches when I drop her by her room.

I rip the door open with my phone camera open ready to catch this fucker on tape so we can get the fuck out of here. Empty, nothing was different except for the strange mix of cold and hot air swirl around the shattered glass. It was ice cold when I picked it up.

I look around the room, but no one was there. I sweep up the glass and throw it away, I gently place the frame back into my bag so I can replace the glass sometime this week. 

Ma stands in the doorway, “We have dinner done,” she whispered, I smiled at her.

“I'll be down in a sec,”

___

I bathe in the sunlight, after almost two weeks everything was sorted out. We unpacked and I got a job. I'm a bartender, and yes, by legal standards I, a 17-year-old, am not allowed to drink; however, being a red means as long as you're old enough to stress the fuck out about working and not being conscripted also means your old enough to down a bottle of gin. 

Which you shouldn't do. 

I carry the gold frame in my bag, I plan to replace the glass. 

I think about the picture, two boys holding ice cream, both with stark black hair. One has a warm smile and bronze eyes, the other was colder with cornflower blue eyes. 

Fucking silvers, they always have to be hot. For all, I know they could be dead. 

Water splashes on my shirt. I shriek and stumble back, the cloth bag tumbles from my grip and smashes against the concrete of the sidewalk. I hear the frame skid out.

I don’t bother with it though; instead, I pull at the front of my shirt, the water was cold and wet, two things I hate more than anything. The water drips slowly onto the ground as I contemplate my actions. I can just take it off and not worry about it.

I look at the one who splashed me, checking to make sure it wasn’t the kind that would laugh at my lack of abs and my ribs showing due to lack of... Well, anything. Except for skin, I have skin.

I guess I’m really searching for a stuffy looking silver which is disgusted by even touching a red like me.

He was silver, but a kind looking one, one that’s dropped a blue watering can and is now holding the picture.

I squint at him, he has dark black hair and nicely tanned skin.

I hear a faint whisper from him, it’s almost caught up in the wind and blown by never to be heard, “Mavey,” He traces a thumb along the photo, cornflower blue boy is covered briefly by his thumb.

He doesn’t cry, but I think he might if I left him alone. I bet he’s the sensitive type.

He snaps out of his daze and stares up at me, “I’m so sorry, I just splashed water on you, and now I’m going through your stuff.” He gets up onto his feet, he holds out a large calloused hand.

I grab it, it’s rough, and he has a firm grip, “I’m Cal,” He doesn’t hand me back the picture, I look into his eyes, they were the same bronze as the one in the picture, a blazer the color of my blood fits him nicely with a black button-down underneath it.

Those colors, those eyes, that face, that blood.

Shit.

I bow, technically he’s not royalty, and I didn’t have to bow however the more respectful I am, the more likely I am not to be massacred for running into the heir of the Calore family.

Which also means I’m living in his house.

And going through his stuff.

“Oh!” He sounds, a tone of startled sings in his voice, “No, don’t bow,” I snap up straight, avoiding his eyes.

A silver’s request is a demand you must obey.

A silver’s gaze is one you must avoid, they don’t like those lower than them acting equal to them.

They’re things I was taught in school, obey, avoid, obey, avoid. We are pets, and no one would care if a silver’s dog just went… missing.

“Um, let’s try again,” Cal said uneased by my attitude, I’m screwed. “My name is Cal, I’m sorry for running into you,”

“You have no need to apologize,” I inform him, trying to suppress my thick accent.

“Okay,” He hesitates, I wonder if I’m free to go, “What’s your name?”

“Thomas.” It’s genuinely impossible to sound more like a robot than I do right now.

“So, Thomas, you moved into my old home,” I nod slowly, “How are you liking it so far?”

“It’s a lot nicer than anything I’ve ever lived in before,” My robotic tone fades every word, this boy doesn’t care that I’m a red.

“Have you met Maven yet?” He begins walking, leading me back to the way I came.

“Who’s that?” I ask him, “Is that the cat?” he laughs and shakes his head.

“No, you’d know if you met him.”

He asks me about my family, my job, my interests.

Cal paid for the repairs of the glass and dented frame, but in return, he took the picture. I didn’t mind, I didn’t need it for anything, and so I prepare to head my separate way

“Hey, Thomas?” Cal said in a low voice, he was uneased by something, “I want you to be careful, in that house I mean.”

I turn back to him, he was clutching the blue watering can like it was a lifeline. He looked sadly at me, “A lot of bad happened in that house.”

And with those words he walked away, leaving me on the sidewalk to fret over the “bad.”

___

Ade screamed as he tugged on the hem of my shirt, “Stranger danger!” He shrieks and drags me to his room.

Stranger danger indeed.

Black hair curling messily around his head and translucent almost paper-white skin. He doesn’t look up at us, he doesn’t acknowledge us or the fact that he’s sitting on Ade’s pink blankets and is reading Thomas the Train engine which was laid out on the bed.

I push Ade away from the door, “Adey, go to my room and lock the door, don’t open for anyone but me or Mommy, okay?” Ade runs away from the room and the strange boy on the bed.

I could tell by the silver tipping of his ear he was a silver and the bracelet around his wrists informed me he was a burner. I have to act quickly if I was going to hurt him before he could set me on fire.

I lunge at him and land on the bed. I watch in both shock and horror as he fizzles out of existence, I dash up and off the bed, he reappears.

“Well, that was rather rude of you.” He informs me, turning to look at me with those eyes.

I think they are blue, but I don’t really care to stare right now.

“What are you!” I shriek picking up a stuffed animal and seeing it phase through him, he fizzled out and then back in, like a hologram.

I throw a book he fizzles again.

“I’m” Another book another fizzle, “Mav-” A stuffed alligator this time, “Ca-” A shoe, “Ore”

I’m out of things to throw.

“Are you done?” He asks, annoyed, “It’s not pleasant fading in and out.” I nod slowly, what else am I going to do?

“What are you?” I ask again.

“My name is Maven Calore,” I think back to what Cal said about Maven, “I’m a ghost.”

“A ghost?” I say, not entirely believing it.

“Yes, and salt doesn’t work against me either.” Damn, I was going to salt the entire house.

“Well,” I say anxious, “How’d you die?” I just want him gone and if fixing all his problems will do it then I’m gonna be fucking ducktape.

He thinks for a second, or maybe he hesitates, I can’t tell, “Dehydration.”

“Too lazy to get up and get a glass of water?” He snorts.

“Nope, my Mother locked me in a room for playing with the red children.” He crosses his legs and that’s when I realize he isn’t even sitting on the bed, he’s sitting a couple of centimeters above it.

“Yikes,” I tell him, not really sure what to say that. He nods for a second.

“She must have forgotten where I was because nobody has found my body since.” I feel a needle go through my heart, this boy was no older than 16, and he died from a shitty ass mother.

“Well tell me where it was and I will help you get to it.” He laughs a second.

“Sure it’s on-” A high pitched screeching sound rings in the inner corners of my brain. Maven raised an eyebrow at me.

“The hell was that for!” I yell at him.

“Ghost rules, can’t tell you jack about where I died.”

I growl.

___

Maven sits in the grass watching Cal walks around our roses, he waters each plant.

I sit beside Maven.

“Do you talk to him?” I ask Maven.

“No, he usually ignores me.” Maven drags a hand over the grass, it doesn’t bend around him, “I think it’s too painful for him.” Maven admits I nod, I wouldn’t be able to talk to a ghost Ade if he died.

“It must get rather lonely,” I comment patting down the grass where his hand had been.

“It does.”

___

Maven floats behind me as I waddle through the attic, “Are we getting closer?” I ask, we’ve been on the search for Maven’s body for well over a month now and no luck so far. Maven opens his mouth, and I cut him off “Please don’t kill my brain again,” He shuts it.

I couldn’t help but laugh. I turn to look at him thoroughly. Suddenly I’m sucked into those cornflower blue eyes. I couldn’t help but inch closer.

If he were alive, I’d feel his breath on my face. Instead, I see a navy dress.

“Run.” He tells me, attempting to push me away but his hand runs straight through my chest, and he fizzles out. 

I turn tail and run from the blonde woman. 

___

“Who was she?” I finally ask him, many days later. 

A glisten of the butter knife spreads pickle relish on the bread.

“I'm not answering that until you tell me right now what the fuck you're doing.” Maven scrunchies up his nose. 

“Peanut butter and relish sandwich, duh.” I watch as he attempts not to gag. “It's for Ade,” I reassure him, he shakes his head.

“You're poisoning that child.” Maven says I laugh at how serious he sounds. 

“Now,” I say, sobering up, “Who was she?”

“My mother.” He doesn't let any particular feelings on it be shown. I search for an appropriate answer. 

“Lock you in a room mother?” I ask, immediately regretting it when he phases out of sight and doesn't come back. 

___

Two weeks pass, and I still haven't found his body. 

Likewise, two weeks pass and I don't see him at all. 

“So, you have absolutely no clue where he is?” I beg Cal, he shakes his head.

“Thomas, I've searched for years,” water splashes over the roses, “the only thing keeping me from tearing the place down to find him is that I don't legally have the right to.”

I watch the clear liquid drip from one leaf and onto another. Golden sun indicates I'm supposed to head to work soon. 

“What was he like?” I touch the rose, letting the soft white petals graze my thickly calloused fingers, “when he was alive, I mean.”

Cal stops, thinking about it. 

“He was quiet,” Cal whispers, he sounds physically pained to have to remember his brother, “He liked books and sleep, he ate nothing but grilled cheese and tomato soup, he was scared of the dark and didn't like history.”

“He was a great brother,” Cal chokes on a sob, I pull him into a tight hug, letting him cry into my shoulder. 

Maven stood a few feet behind him, he was still as a statue, I wonder briefly if ghosts can cry too.

___

I pull books off the shelf, huckleberry finn, the great Gatsby, Shakespeare, all great writers are left on the floor as I search frantically for my keys. 

“Seriously, Maven!” I shout at him, he tilts his head quizzically, “Did you see where I left them or not?!”

He shrugs, “I wasn't paying attention.” He repeats for the third time. 

“Ughhhh!” I shout, folding over on the floor. I still had time to walk to work, but if I wanted to take Ade to his friend's house, I would have to find these stupid keys. 

Maven lays beside me. 

“I'm sorry I yelled at you,” I tell him, he nods sadly.

Over the past year, me and Maven have grown infinitely closer, we talk daily, my issues are his issues. 

And I'd be blind if I didn't see how absolutely beautiful he is, his eyes glinting with happiness when he laughs, his lips move as they talk. 

“I love you,” I tell him. He freezes momentarily, the muscles in his non-body seem to tense until he fades out. 

I sigh at the air where he was, that's one hell of a way to be rejected. 

“I love you too,” he seems to say in such a panic. 

My heart stops, he didn't look any different, he wasn't disheveled of flushing, but there was some sort of nervous energy there. 

Behind Maven I see the crack between the bookshelf and the door hidden behind it.

___

I didn't tell Maven.

I feel awful about it, but I wasn't ready to give him up. Not yet. 

Elara had scared Maven off again today, I shove the bookshelf out of the way. 

The door was iron, or some other grey metal, which I think is almost every metal. It's locked with not one, not two, but five metal handlebar latches. 

I unlatch them, hesitantly gripping the handlebar. 

I pull-

The bookshelf back in place and ran away. 

___

“What if I, let's say… found Maven's body?” I ask, sitting on the counter. I asked to go elsewhere so Maven can't show up again. Cal took me to his home.

“You'd be putting yourself in danger.” Cal says, “Call me if you so much as think you found it but don't go in there alone.”

“Why not?” I can't help but ask. 

“Elara, Maven's mother, disappeared shortly after he died,” he fiddles with a wrench. “I just… I don't know what happened, and it's safest for you not to go, so promise me, promise me you won't.”

I promise.

Like a liar.

___

I finally work up the courage. 

I take in a breath, and I yank open the door. 

I almost instantly keel over at the scent. Rotting bodies smell like… rotting corpses. 

My senses told me to run the other way. But I'm not that smart. 

“You found it,” Maven yelps, jumping into my arms. 

He felt solid, he felt real. I'm sucked into his eyes once again. 

Our lips connect. My first kiss. 

I'm someone else now, a young boy, starving and begging for mommy to let him out. 

Am I… Maven?

I spend what feels like days there, screaming, pounding on the door. No one comes. 

I can't take it anymore. I just want it to stop. I'm so hungry. 

I slam my head into the concrete wall, screaming in pain as silver drips from it. 

I do it again, and again, and again. 

I'm laughing now. I'll be free, no one can hurt me anymore. 

Eventually, I'm too weak to continue, and I fall over, bleeding out quickly. 

I'm back in my body. 

My first kiss.

I pull away. Wondering if I should run. 

I trip on Maven's body. Skin melts off the bones. 

I vomit. 

“Isn't it so awful?” Maven asks, poking the corpse, “I was much prettier than this.”

I crawl frantically away from the corpse. 

And right into another one. 

Blonde hair, not yet gone, a navy blue pants suit. 

His mother. 

Based on her broken skull I assume she met a similar fate. 

Maven's fingers lace into my hair and the iron door slams shut.

My first kiss. 

He slams my forehead into the floor. 

My last kiss.

___

I poke his body, he wasn’t yet dead, and he was barely conscious. 

“Ade?” He mutters, turning over.

“No,” I tell him and snuggle closer. 

I can touch things in here, I can move things.

I assume the iron walls keep my real power locked here, with my body. 

“Don’t hurt them,” Thomas begs, “please, don’t hurt my family.”

I won’t need to, Thomas will stay with me now, trapped here, I won’t be alone. 

“They’re safe,” I promise him. The light fades from his eyes.

Now I just have to wait for him to come back. 

___

Two years have passed, Thomas never came back. I guess he moved on.

His family moved out soon after. It was almost sad, watching them give up on finding him.

It reminded me of how my family gave up on me. 

A new family is moving in now. 

“Catch!” One of the boys shouts tossing a vase across the lawn. 

“You guys are crazy!” A red-haired girl screams, “that’s gotta be worth a fortune!”

“Who cares! Shade and Mare can pay for them with their silver money.” The two boys are throwing around the vase stop, laughing like maniacs.

“We aren’t silvers, and you know that,” The girl, possibly Mare, sighs. She carries a cardboard box. “One light bulb explodes when you’re angry, and suddenly your whole fucking blood color changes.”

I fade out and follow her, maybe I’ll have more luck with her.

Maybe she’ll stay.


End file.
